Senators considered a package of bills aimed at improving reentry and diversion practices in North Dakota’s criminal justice system. The Judiciary Committee presented amendments to House Bills 14-25, 14-17 and 15-49; the Senate adopted the committee’s proposed amendments on the floor.

House Bill 14-25: The amendment clarified the definition of a “deflection” process used to redirect people to treatment, explicitly carving out criminal activity that involves bodily injury or damage to personal property from the deflection definition. The amendment also removed language that would have exempted peace officers, first responders and local government agencies from civil liability when deflecting someone to treatment instead of incarceration. Finally, the amendment moved the deadline for establishing a prosecutor-led diversion pilot and required a report to legislative management by Jan. 1, 2027. The Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve the amendment and the Senate concurred.

House Bill 14-17: This amendment removed the bill’s mandatory tiered sanctions for “technical” violations of community supervision (the proposed 15/30/90/remaining-time tiered schedule) and eliminated a requirement that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) use a matrix system for sanctions and incentives. The committee reasoned that these mandatory tiers would have reduced judicial discretion; the committee approved the amendment 5–1 and the Senate adopted it.

House Bill 15-49: The amendment added the newly appointed commissioner of recovery and reentry to the oversight committee for grants and struck a section that would have created a reentry program tailored specifically to Native American populations, with the committee saying reentry programming should be tailored for all North Dakotans. The Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the amendment and the Senate concurred.

All three amended bills were placed on the calendar for second reading and further consideration on the fourteenth order.